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Dutch DJ JOOP swings by EDM Charts this week. He talks about his latest hit with Tiffany Johnston, the music scene is his homeland of Holland, and thoughts on Pasquale Rotela’s recent statements on booking talent for festivals. Stop what you’re doing and learn more about this great artist!

JOOP, Thanks for taking time to talk some EDM with EDM Charts! You’ve been a busy man and have been putting out some great material as of late. Tell us how you got started in the game and where you’re from.

He guys! Thanks for having me! I am from a smaller place that holds 110.000 people called Leeuwarden up north in Holland. I started out dj-ing in 1989 in a youth centre not far from my childhood house. Basically I went over there on the Saturday nights and listened to the dj’s playing there Rap and Hip Hop records. I liked it so much that I asked the guys if it was possible that I could give it a try sometime, before I knew it I was there every Saturday afternoon practicing on the decks and teaching myself how to mix. Not long after that I became a dj on that same Saturday night and one thing led to another. In the next following years I came in contact with the harder end of the edm scene back then in Holland. I played for years under the name J-Double-o-P Hardcore. I even did after party’s back then from the original Thunderdome party’s held by ID&T. I did this from 1990 till 1996. At one point I was in search for something new and felt in love with the more down tempo stuff called club house music. After a while I came in contact with a guy that was doing some stuff on the Amiga computer. We even did live performances as a duo back then. So basically from that point on I never stopped making music. Later on that resulted in my very first release JOOP – Act Of God on the ID&T label. After this things went very fast. Every 3-5 years you see a change in the edm scene music wise. Especially the last 2 years everything comes closer together and you see huge crossovers between various styles of edm music. As long as I can remember I never just played one style of music in my dj-sets. Because I always try to project myself on the audience, what would I like to hear when I’m standing in a club or on a big festival? Of course you always have your audience that “only “ wants to hear that particular style of music. But that’s not my style; I want to entertain the people with some different tastes of edm. My taste in music is wide, it always has been.

Your recent release “Just One Night” has really made an impact in the progressive house scene! We recently had it ranked #3 on one of our recent top #5 charts. What’s the inspiration behind the song?

Thank you for putting it in your top 5 guys! The inspiration for this track came forth from the previous releases “Focus” and “Rocket Double”. Before “Just One Night” I already tried to do something else. With “Just One Night “ I think it became finally what I had in mind all that time, slightly different from what Idid all those years. So when “Just One Night” was born I was lucky that I met Tiffany. She send me a message and we came in contact. I was curious to hear her voice and ask if she had any demos for me to hear. She told me that what she had was probably not my cup of tea. I told her not to worry about that. She send me a few video of her where she is relaxing in a sofa with a mic, the music starts to play and what I heard next was amazing! This beautiful voice on strong hard metal/rock music. It was very clear for me that I wanted to do something with Tiffany. So within the next week she send some kick ass vocals for ‘Just One Night’. The rest is history;)

Featured on vocals on the track is up and coming vocalist Tiffany Johnston. What was it like working with her and how would you describe her style?

Tiffany is a very dedicated artist to work with, she knows what she wants and is a real big self-critic, when I hear something that sounds very cool she will try to do it even better. This is the 3 rd time I work with female vocalists and I must say I was lucky with all 3 of them. But Tiffany is definitely is a very nice and easy person to work with. Her own style is a bit further away from the EDM scene. But that isn’t something new, more of the male or female vocalists in the EDM scene have their roots laying somewhere else in singing.

Right now you’re currently working under a big label in High Contrast Recordings. How did you get involved with this label and what is it like working with them?

I started out on ID&T records, back then the A&R manager was Dick de Groot and later on he became the owner of the BeYourSelfMusic label. So I knew Dick all ready for a long time, so for me the most logical step was after ID&T records stopped I ended up on his sub label High Contrast. Dick is a really great guy. I think they just finished their new website, go check it out if you have the time, www.highcontrastrecords.com.

You’re from the Netherlands, home of many great DJs such as Afrojack, Armin van Buuren and Laidback Luke. How would explain the explosion of talent from this country?

It’s funny, but this question has been asked to me now for over a decade. I think the edm scene is as strongly present in our culture as our wooden shoes are What I am trying to say is that this EDM culture is going on here for over 20 years. The young kids literally are growing up with this kind of music. When you’re driving in a car or doing groceries or just trying on a new outfit in your clothing store it’s EDM what you hear 24/7. The bigger parties here dominated the scene for years and still do, all the clubs are doing it and that delivers a load of dj’s that are standing in line to become the new star. So I guess that has something to do with it for sure.

It wouldn’t be an interview at EDM Charts, without getting your opinion on the current top #5 EDM songs. What are they?

I just did some reviews on some tracks, so this would be my current list for now:

You’ve obviously had a chance to perform at various venues and concerts. What is your all time favorite club or festival to perform at?

I have to go back in my mind a bit for that, few months ago there was this pretty big show in Denver, USA called The Gathering, this was freaking cool! I also did 7 Trance Energy’s that were big. Main stage can hold up to 25.000 people. And I played numerous of times on the main stage during this event. Also I did a couple of Love parade’s in Berlin. If someone asked me about my most precious memories that would be in the top 5 for sure! Getting on the square and playing for 250.000 people is insane! For the rest I did some very big shows in Poland at Sunrise and other indoor events as well. Played at the Olympic stadium in Sydney Australia was also a very good show! I had my own solo gig in Lebanon at Forum the Bayreuth few years ago, that was built for 15.000. That is what pops in mind at this moment, so I am a very lucky guy that I can live my dream. I had some awesome moments in life!

What is one artist or vocalist that you haven’t worked with yet, that you would really like to in the near future?

There is one I already worked with by performing live with her on stage, I was dj-ing and Emma Hewitt was delivering her vocals. I would love to do a track with her. I also had a wish to do something with Sharon den Adel, (Within Temptation) but someone beat me to it;) But now I already gave 2 answers and you only needed one from me. Let me see…hmmmm….To be honest not one pops in mind that I really desire to do something with. I’m a guy that let things come as they are, good track title btw;)!

It’s always interesting to see what artists put on their riders. What do you usually require along the lines of equipment, drinks, etc?

A bed, shower and breakfast…O! and drinking coins they don’t have to provide because at the end I still have them in my pocket.

In an interview recently with Billboard, Electric Daisy Carnival founder Pasquale Rotella was quoted as saying “We don’t want to book superstar DJs anymore” in regards to their large festivals. He’d rather create an “experience” than book the big guys, and give up and coming talent a shot. What are your thoughts on this statement, as the EDM community has found this statement somewhat controversial.

Is that right? I thought there was a pretty big A-list this year in Vegas at EDC. I mean I do understand why club owners or bigger festival promoters book their “star“ names. I had my share of the cake too of course, but I really believe in quality over putting artists up that really are there only because of their name. There are also still loads of examples of big names that also know how to entertain the crowd and actually can dj for god sake. It’s a different time now, and with this also comes other artists. This is always a point of discussion, also as dj colleagues we have these sorts of talks, but at the end I believe in that the real entertainer/craftsman will stay on top and the other side will fall, because when you have to perform before 25.000 you can’t playback without it being noticed. But like I said this is always a big point of discussion and almost a never ending tail. I know how I think about it. For the rest I say: Party on!

Our site never posts any unauthorized material and we are huge supporters of going out and buying the music. Where can fans purchase your material or listen to your sets? Also, where can fans find you on social media and submit their input?

I love feedback, good or bad! I try to answer as much as possible I can towards my fellow humans, always! My Facebook is Facebook.com/joopofficial. For my monthly podcast JOOP pres. Focus Radio you can go through Soundcloud.com/joop/tracks or use iTunes and do a search on JOOP Focus radio. Twitter I can be reached on Twitter.com/djjoop and on Youtube.com/joopofficial and of course if you really like what I do you can show some love and support in this years dj mag top 100.